God Donna, i thought you were more honest than that!
by lilyiseverywhere
Summary: Sam gives Donna a pep talk after she finds out some surprising news and suffers from a bout of nerves.
1. Chapter 1

When Donna realised it hit her like a ton of bricks.

She hadn't realised at first, in fact later her complete and utter denial of the situation would amuse her. She was tired. A couple months into a new job it came with the territory. Her back ached. It was those damn heels. Her bra was too tight. She must be gaining weight. She had scolded herself for that one, she shouldn't let Josh convince her eat takeout every other night. Her late period, well she had been so busy she hadn't even noticed that one.

It was a cold night in February when she did notice. Josh was working late, he was finishing up in the sit room after some military issue in Qumar and it was going to keep him in the office until the early hours of the morning. Donna didn't mind she expected nights like this and her plan included a quiet night with a bubble bath and a book. She did however take the opportunity to pick up some groceries. That's when it happened. Standing in the toiletries aisle in Walmart searching for toothpaste when the box of tampons caught her eye. Her shopping cart was immediately forgotten instead she quickly found a test and headed straight to the cash register, then the customer toilets where she waited an agonizing amount of time waiting for the test to confirm what she already knew.

Donna's first reaction was Joy, an immense rush of emotion that overwhelmed her and brought tears to her eyes. Her heart was racing, no pounding, her thoughts rushed through her head a mile a minute, that's when the panic set in. This couldn't be happening, she couldn't do this. Mrs Santos was relying on her, Josh wouldn't want this. They had only been together for three months. Two months into a new job, into arguably the most important job in the country, certainly one of the most powerful and the most important of his career. He didn't have time to deal with this right now. He shouldn't have to. He loved her, but he loved Donna not pregnant Donna and he shouldn't have to do this, not yet, not with the president depending on him, when he was so busy. When all eyes were on the President, Josh and the administration he had helped create.

And what would everyone think? The Staff knew they were together of course but they didn't know the history, they probably thought their relationship was far more casual than it actually was, wouldn't realise that they practically lived together and Donna, at least fully expected to spend the rest of her life with Josh. From Santos' new administration it was only Sam who had witnessed their relationship from the beginning. Only Sam could possibly understand how meaningful their relationship was, especially since they had been keeping so quiet since the inauguration.

With that a new wave of panic set in. Her heart began pounding more quickly than she thought was even possible. Only Sam would understand! They had kept things quiet, tried to avoid the press, they didn't want to distract from the president. They had told her parents and his Mom, but as for President Bartlet's senior staff and the former President himself they hadn't called to tell them. They had spoken but so much of the conversation had been about their new lives outside the white house and Josh and her own new roles still in Washington. The honeymoon phase had been great and now Donna felt foolish for allowing it to carry on for so long. They hadn't told people who deserved to know and now it would seem like they were only telling people they were together because they had to.

"Donna? Donna are you ok?"

The interruption took a moment for Donna to register in the quite hustle of the bullpen but when it did she jumped forward knocking a stapler of the desk which sobered her. She quickly retrieved the stapler and turned to respond, straightening her skirt as she did so.

"Sorry Sam, was just lost in thought, can I help you with something?"

"You're not an assistant anymore Donna, I asked if you're ok?" Donna grimaced slightly at his words and inhaled deeply.

"Yes, Yes of course" she gulped "nothing thought I'd come by and see Josh?"

"He did let you know he's going to be in the sit room for a while"

"What? Oh, yes he sent a message to my office its ok I can wait at my desk" she slumped down into the chair quickly and spun round to face the desk averting her eyes from Sam.

"Donna really what's wrong, you can tell me" Sam insisted sitting down on the corner of the desk next to her.

Donna averted her eyes again but this time spoke in a much louder voice.

"I'm fine Sam, really, I really don't know why you think there is something wrong, you must have something else to do"

"Well for a start this is Mindy's desk now not yours, you are sitting outside my office not Josh's and its half 10 on a Friday night and he just sent me home so I really doubt he's going to be in this part of the building again tonight." Donna just smiled weakly

"I'll be okay really Sam"

"You could have fooled me. Something's bothering you, you're distracted out of your wits. come on, I'll walk you home" Sam replied

"But Jo-" Donna practically whined before being interrupted.

"Will be home as soon as he is finished in the sit room he doesn't like spending as much time in the office anymore and I have the strongest feeling it has nothing to with the administration." Donna just smiled weakly again and rose from her chair.

"Okay let's go" Donna adjusted her coat and made for the door Sam followed closely behind as they made their way out of the west wing in to the crisp Washington air. They didn't speak again until they reached the gate.

"So, are you going to tell me what's bothering you?" Donna stared fixatedly forward as she responded.

"I can't, its bad I mean not bad but big, it could end up bad, but not awful it could also be good, really, really good. Maybe I just can't"

"Okay" Sam smiled he had a feeling he knew what this might be.

"It's just I should tell Josh first"

"Okay Donna"

"I mean we would tell you too, soon probably"

"I Understand Donna"

"It's just I really can't tell you yet"

"that's fine we can just walk, back to Josh's"

"I'm Pregnant" Donna blurted the words out quickly and stopped her brisk walk quite suddenly on the sidewalk causing Sam to walk a few paces ahead of her.

"You're pregnant?" He smiled spinning around to face her. Donna just nodded nervously.

"Donna that's brilliant!" Sam exclaimed crashing into with a hug.

"I'm so happy for you, for both of you. All three of you in fact" Sam said giddy with excitement.

"Really?"

"Of course," Sam said sincerely he was wearing that massive smile that Donna had so often found infectious. She returned the smile half-heartedly because it wasn't that she wasn't more than a little bit happy, she was just terrified. And suddenly all her fears came spilling out.

"But it's not a good time and we haven't been together long and Josh is so busy as it is. I mean his job ended Leo's marriage and we only just started dating how are we meant to deal with it all when it's so new. Josh didn't sign up for this. And then there's my job too I'm in a much more important position now people rely on me, the first lady relies on me. And it will mean bad press for Josh and therefore the administration and we haven't told people we are together I mean you know and everyone here knows but CJ and Toby and Charlie and President Bartlet."

"hey hey hey, Donna stop" Donna paused and sighed deeply waiting for Sam to respond to her dilemma."

"you seriously didn't think everyone knew?" Sam laughed , Donna looked stricken

"They all know, how?" Sam was in fits of laughter by now.

"There was a picture of The President and The First Lady at the inauguration, on the front page of the Washington Post with you and Josh standing next to them holding hands."

"but we were standing next to the President and the First Lady we didn't think anyone would notice" Donna wailed. Sam attempted to sober himself.

"We have known you for a pretty long time Donna and we tend to recognise you on the front page of major newspapers." Donna began to protest but Sam interrupted her. "Charlie sent copies to President Bartlet, CJ and Danny, Toby, Will, Ainsley, Mallory all the assistants pretty much everyone"

"Why would he do that?" This time Sam was the one to look nervous.

"Well he won the pool" he mumbled. Donna rolled her eyes and took off walking so fast that Sam had to jog to catch up with her.

"And they didn't even say anything" Sam just chuckled falling in to step next to her.

"You don't need to freak out like this you know."

"I do though Sam, this is a big deal a really big deal."

"I'm not saying it isn't but" he paused for a second and then changed tactics. "Donna has Josh said I love you yet?" This made Donna fly to halt again.

"Well yes we said it quickly but" Sam interrupted her before she could launch into another rant.

"Quickly, you and Josh said I love you anything but quickly, glaciers have melted quicker than you said I love you. President Bartlet was commander in chief for almost two terms before you said I love you. Josh has been in love you for eight freaking years. And yes, maybe the press will notice and maybe you'll need to take a few months off work, at a job where you and Josh are in this white house to advocate for people, including people who want a family and a career all at the same time. And maybe people are trying to give you a bit of space and give themselves a bit of space because frankly you're both nauseating. But you guys survived bullet and a bomb and you will survive a baby and if you try and tell me that you haven't loved Josh for longer than the few months you've both been smart enough to admit it then god Donna I thought you were more honest than that."

Sam paused for a moment perhaps he had gone a bit too far. Donna was just standing there blinking at him tears in her eyes when suddenly she collapsed into him burying her head in his shoulder, sobbing.

"Thank you, Sam. I'm sorry I've just been so emotional lately, its hormones I guess." Sam just placed an arm around her shoulder gently.

"Come on let's just get you home."

 **Thank you for reading. I'll most likely write at least one more chapter for this perhaps more if I settle on an idea and depending whether or not there's any interest. This is the first time I have anything written for The West Wing so please let me know what you think, I would really appreciate it.**

 **Also, I have proof read this a few times but I'm not great at spotting mistakes in my own work so I apologise if I've missed anything.**


	2. Chapter 2

**This is shorter than last time but it was getting it was getting a little long so I decided to split the chapter in half. Thank you so much for the support it was so encouraging and I'm glad people seem to like story.**

It was much later that night that Josh was finally ready to leave the office. He had escaped the sit room an hour and a half earlier but following a brief talk with President Santos had decided to stay in his office a bit longer. To get a few more things don, it was well past late now but he was still getting use to his much busier schedule as chief of staff, finishing up some work now didn't seem like such a bad idea. Donna was most likely asleep anyway and if he were lucky he might be able to leave slightly earlier tomorrow. If Donna could leave at the same time as him then it would definitely be worth a little less sleep tonight.

He wasn't sure he liked his office at this time of night, it was calm and quiet with the lack of hustle and energy that he thrived on, but mainly it meant he had time to notice the little things that reminded him of Leo. From the exact hook where Leo would hang up his coat for so many days in this office, to the empty space where the Bartlet for America napkin had sat nothing made him feel more like a small child playing make believe. The silence unnerved him like he was anticipating an interruption. Waiting for Leo to come in and say "knock it off kid", Toby to complain about the injustice of something or other, CJ to tease him, Joanie to tell him off for him playing in Dads office and his Dad to chuckle at him but to smile down proudly. Or for President Bartlet to burst through the door and quiz him on Latin. Those things didn't happen here anymore. During the Bartlet administration he was right next to the bullpen and there was always someone there to banter with. More often than not it had been Donna and he loved the conversations they would continue as they went about their days. Of course, he preferred the couple dynamic far more but he missed having her working so close by and he missed the family feel of his first time in the white house. He liked the people he worked with now but the bond wasn't as strong as it had been before. Not yet.

When Josh did creep into his apartment very late that night dumping his rucksack in the corner by the door and kicking off his shoes. He neglected to turn on the lights to avoid waking Donna, who he severely hoped was asleep in his bed right now, ok well maybe the asleep part was negotiable. He tried to avoid banging into any furniture as he made to the kitchen stopping at the fridge and taking a swig of milk straight from the carton. Donna would probably be able to tell he had done that in the morning but he didn't see the point in dirtying a glass at this time of night anyway. He stole a few grapes, Donna had left in his fridge insisting she needed some sort of fruit with her breakfast and made his way to the living room shrugging off his couch as tossing it onto the couch as he walked past.

"Oww" a voice groaned from the couch causing Josh to spin and let out a short scream of surprise at seeing the familiar figure covered in a blanket in his apartment this late at night.

"Sam what the hell are you doing here?" Josh recovered flicking on the lights.

"What are you screaming about didn't you see me" Sam replied rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

"yeah I saw you lying on my couch in the dark at two am and just though great a new coat rack" Josh replied sarcastically. "and it wasn't a scream it was a shout of surprise"

"it was scream and thanks for that by the way your zip hit me on the forehead." Josh just ignored him.

"you know when you told me you were you were leaving tonight I sort assumed you meant you were going to your house."

Sam just looked at Josh for a second he hadn't intended to fall asleep and definitely didn't expect to see Josh before Donna had spoken to him.

"I was keeping Donna company"

"Donna told me she was going to finish the book she's been rattling on about." Sam sighed wishing desperately that he could think of a way to be more tactful about this.

"well I met her outside my office and she err… changed her mind." He could tell Josh wasn't buying the excuse and avoided eye contact with him feeling relieved when Josh changed his line of questioning.

"well where's Donna?"

Sam looked startled for a moment before responding as though it hadn't occurred to him that she was missing.

"well we were watching TV and I guess I accidentally fell asleep I guess she just decided to leave me here and went to bed." Sam said peeling the blanket off himself as though he was noticing it for the first time."

"Great company you are then" Josh quipped a hint of pleased a hint of amusement in his voice.

They feel in to a comfortable silence for a moment before Josh interrupted

"Donna left a half hour before you, she told Margaret to tell me she was heading back here. Why was she even in The West Wing tonight?" Sam rose from the couch and pulled his own jacket on he could tell he wasn't going to be able to avoid Josh's questions but he definitely wasn't the on who should be having this conversation with Josh "Look Donna had some concerns, I reassured her and then we came back here and watched C-SPAN to take her mind of things until you got home." This however didn't seem to reassure Josh and it was as though the worry was etched into his face "is she ok?" he fumbled a bit his eyes on his bedroom door "was it Gaza? Cause I told her if there was anything to tell Margaret to get me out of whatever the old friend from home thing" he stammered "and you should too, I mean" but Sam interrupted him placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I promise you its good news, it's great news in fact. I'm gonna head home. Donna must have gone to sleep, speak to her in the morning. I'll see you tomorrow and you can tell me how right I am" Josh felt slightly better at his friends reassuring words.

"Thanks man, it's late you know you could just crash on the couch tonight" he offered. Sam just shook his head and made towards the door. "Nah thanks though but I'll go sleep in my own bed, grab a shower and a new shirt, have breakfast with Laura." Sam smiled turning to around again as he reached for the door before noting the worry still on Josh's face. "Donna's absolutely fine, she was stressing out about work" well that wasn't technically a lie. "Go sleep for a few hours, and talk to her about it tomorrow, look I'll brief the President tomorrow morning and speak to Margaret so I can cover for you at morning staff and you can come in an hour late I'm meant to be sitting in on your meeting with the minority leader anyway, ill smooth things over with everyone. And Josh?" Sam said pausing for a moment "Don't forget to smile when she tells you." And he was gone before Josh had a chance to respond.

 **Thank you again for reading. I felt this conversation between Josh and Sam was important to show how Josh feels following the end of the series but please let me know what you think. Anything you have to say really does help motivate me and I'm open to suggestions.**

 **And to MrsChilton your kind review made my day and I promise Donna will tell Josh in the next chapter which will be up soon. xx**


	3. Chapter 3

The light thud of the door ringing in his ears, Josh stood in confused silence for a moment before his attention turned back to Donna. He wasn't expecting to get much sleep with this supposedly good news that Donna was so worried about hanging over head. If it was that great why would she be concerned? Sam had said it had been work but he couldn't remember her talking about anything that might be cause for concern but then she talked about lots of things to do with her job maybe he just hadn't picked up on something. The first lady didn't have any positions to promote her to, certainly without consulting him, Donna was in the most senior position of the east wing. It might be concerning if she was getting transferred but then Mrs Santos was based in DC now so it couldn't be that either. Donna also consulted with him or Sam before any big speeches or events that the First Lady was going to participate in so there couldn't be anything there making her nervous he would know about it, at least he hoped he would. Yawning Josh stretched running his hand through his hair and pivoting towards the bedroom, maybe if he went and lay down next to Donna for a while the sound of her breathing would be soothing and the exhaustion would take over.

Opening the door however he was surprised to see Donna wide awake, sitting upright on his bed leaning against the headboard

"Hey, you're awake?"

"Hey yourself" She smiled nervously meeting his gaze for a moment before dropping her eyes to her hands which were paying restlessly with the hem of one of his t-shirts, another one she had apparently stolen.

"you're awake?" Josh repeated smiling anxiously at a loss for what to say suddenly feeling much more awake.

"yeah didn't feel much like sleeping" Donna felt so awkward she had it planned everything she was going to say, how to break the news to him she had strategized with Sam, or rather he had let her talk while he tried to keep up with her nervous chatter. She probably should have sent him home but after C-SPAN had rattled out the DC headlines for the third time since she had started watching and Sam had fallen asleep she felt as though being alone, even if Sam wasn't actually conscious, was much more unsettling. So, she covered him in the blanket and switched off the TV gravitating towards Josh's crumpled T-shirt thrown haphazardly onto the dresser by the bedroom door rather than her own nightwear folded neatly under the pillow. Carried away by her own rapid thoughts it took Donna a second to realise Josh had spoken again.

"Sorry"

"You heard me and Sam talking?" Josh repeated. Donna's behaviour wasn't doing much to reassure him. She was being unnaturally quiet although he suspected that her inner monologue was racing at a mile a minute.

"No didn't here you talking but I knew you were home because I heard you squeal."

"it wasn't a squeal, Sam said you were worried about something why didn't you come get me"

"Josh just because we're together now it doesn't mean I can go parading into any number of confidential meetings just because I want to see you."

"Well I wouldn't mind"

Donna just shook her head in disbelief couldn't help but smile though. Honestly Josh's concern was rather reassuring and she didn't want to completely discourage it.

"Sam reassured me, it's what friends are for and he has an almost unique perspective on us at least in regards to the people we know in DC" Josh stared at Donna for a long time crestfallen.  
"so you were concerned about us?" he asked quietly.

"No!" Donna replied really quickly and in a much louder voice than she had intended. "that's not what I meant, I love you never doubt that it's just something that affects both of us and nervous, terrified that this was going to change everything and ruin everything. This has been so great these last few months and I don't want to risk it. Sam just pointed out that I was being stupid and irrational and hormonal, well he didn't call me any of that bu-" Having crossed the room in a few steps and sitting down on the bed next to her Josh cut Donna off capturing her lips in his own briefly before pulling away and smiling at her. He opened his mouth to speak but Donna interrupted. "I'm pregnant"

Ok well that definitely wasn't how that was supposed to come out. She was going to build up to it, break the news gently give him time to process. She would tell him he had options that he didn't have to be involved if he didn't want to but she knew that would hurt more than it would help. He was so terrified of losing people the people that he loved she knew he wouldn't be capable of not being involved the guilt would overwhelm him. She hadn't needed Sam to tell her that and it was what made her worry. The silence now though It was overwhelming. Josh hadn't exactly reacted negatively but his face was frozen in shock. If the moment had been less tense Donna would find his expression incredibly funny.

After a few more agonizingly long minutes Josh responded hesitantly

"you're pregnant?" Donna just nodded, watching him carefully. Usually Josh could process information quickly, he would analyse it, strategize all the options and come up with a plan in a matter of seconds but tonight his brain was failing him. His heart had twisted in a jolt of so many emotions he had a hard time keeping track of them all but his brain was acting as though he was still trying to remember the meaning of the word. "we're going to have a baby?" Donna nodded again

"You're going to be a Dad Josh" at hearing her words Josh gradually began to gather his senses.

"wow" he muttered barely above a whisper. "that's the most incredible thing you've ever said to me" breaking into a massive smile Josh leapt up from the bed in a sudden burst of energy startling Donna. "We're going have a kid" he shouted "Donna just nodded excitedly tears welling up in her eyes. Josh pulled her up from the bed and wrapped her into a massive bear hug as she buried her face into his shoulder

"I'm sorry" she sobbed "I'm just really happy and over emotional" Josh pulled her closer and tighter. "you are happy about this too, though right?" he asked hesitantly "because I'll support you with whatever" Donna nodded and pulled back to look up at Josh.

"I'm unbelievably happy, I'm just terrified. I mean looking after an adult you was horrifying, imagine the kid version." Donna joked in mock horror. Seeing her familiar flirtatious smile Josh felt completely calm for the first time since he saw Sam on his couch. Josh moved away from Donna and started readying himself for bed as they fell easily back into their usual banter.

"imagine my pain, with two of you fighting the human-interest story with everything I do. You're going to turn me into an irreversibly good person." He joked.

"See, us having a kid together its actually the most patriotic thing we'll ever do" Donna quipped. Josh just laughed lightly

"yeah the three successful presidential elections were just a warm up for us." By now Josh and Donna had settled back into the bed lying next to each other staring up at the ceiling as they sleepily continued they're conversation. "when should tell people?" Josh said looking towards Donna.

"its recommended you wait until the second trimester which is another few weeks for us but if you don't mind I want to tell my mom so I can talk to her about all the pregnancy stuff. You can tell your mom too of course." Josh smiled.

"and Sam too?" Josh asked his eyebrows raised. Donna defended herself quickly

"I'm sorry I really did want to tell you first but he could tell I was worried about something and I just sort of blurted it out." Josh just chuckled yawing whilst turning back to look up at the ceiling again.

"its ok really I'm glad he made you feel better, this just means he's going be like an excitable third wheel but what else is new." Donna rolled her eyes knowing Josh was probably glad Sam knew even if he would say so. She was still smiling at Josh but they both remained quiet for a while. Donna spoke again as he started to drift off.

"we could take advantage of that you know"

"hmm" Josh didn't bother to open his eyes this time.

"free babysitter" Donna said pulling the duvet closer and settling down to sleep. Josh sleepily tugged the duvet back away from Donna forcing her to settle closer to him.

"Donna, I love the way you think."

 **Thank you, again for all the follows and feedback I really do appreciate it. I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to continue this, I will if a good enough idea for another chapter strikes me but this might be the end. Please let me know what you think, should I continue? I'm open to suggestions if you have any.**


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